Cotton picker spindle and doffer mechanism



March 2, 1954 CDR. HAGEN ErAL 2,670,585

COTTON PICKER SPINDLE AND DoFFER MDCHANISM Filed June so, 19.51

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Patented Mar. 2, 1954 COTTON PICKER SPINDLE AND DOFFER MECHANISM Clarence R. Hagen and Louis E. Nickla, Memphis, Tenn., assignors to International Harvester Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application June 30, 1951, Serial No. 234,488

This invention relates to cotton picker mechanisms of the rotating spindle type and more specically to a novel improvement in the dofng stage thereof.

In such machines currently in use, the practice has been to mount the spindles with the upper edges of their conical picker portions positioned to move in a plane parallel to or coplanar with the bottom side of an associated doer element. Such an arrangement was believed to pro vvide the ultimate in dofng eiiciency on the theory that the doffer element would sweep uniformly across the entire length of the cone and ,thus brush it clean. The theoretical desirability,

however, is not available in actual practice. The cotton lint distributes unevenly along the cone and is wound more times at the tip of the cone than at its base. The cumulative pressures of overlaying windings anchors the lint most tightly to the tip of the spindle which, to obtain complete doing, demands more eiort to dislodge the fibers from the tip than the base section.

Dofling of the spindles in current designs is further complicated by wear of the support bearg ings which causes the spindles to droop or sag at the tip away from the sweeping face of the doffer so that progressively less and less pressure is obtained towards the tip of the spindle and increased towards the base of the cone.

, A general object of the invention is to arrange the spindles and doffers in such manner that progressively increased pressures are obtained by the doffers on the lint as it is being swept towards the tips of the spindles thus assuring a clean sweep thereof.

More specifically the invention contemplates arranging the spindles with their upper edges in converging relationship with the plane of the sweeping face of the doifer in a direction towards the tips of the spindles when the spindles and doifer are in superposed relationship. Y .p

A still further ob-ject is to dispose the peripheral surfaces of .the spindles at a suiicient angle with respect to the sweeping face of the dofler to insure convergence between the top edges of the spindles and the doifer face thereabove during substantially the entire eiective life of the spindle bearings to compensate for drooping as the spindle bearings wear. f

A further object is to provide an arrangement 1 which may be incorporated in existing machines without any modification of associated-parts.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the speciiication and the drawings, wherein:

c claims. (o1. `srs- 41) Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view partially in vertical section taken along line I-I ,of Figure 2 of a portion of a cotton picker assembly illustrating the relative disposition of the spindles and doffers in accordance with the invention, and

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view thereof, partly in section, to show the relative horizontal positions of the spindles with respect to the related doi'ng element. f

Describing the invention in detail, the picker drum generally designated 2 is illustrated as comprising several upright carrier elements or bars `4, 4 each supporting a plurality of laterally extending spindle assemblies 6, 6. The carriers and general arrangement of the construction shown may be in accordance with U. S. Patent 2,140,631.

Each spindle assembly 6 includes a nut 8 with a bearing 9 therein sleeved over a shank I0 ofa spindle I 2, the nut being threaded into the re,- lated bar 4 within an aperture therein to secure the spindle assembly thereto. This construction may be such as shown in U. S. Patent 2,497,776. A guard cap I4' may be sleeved on the shank and secured thereto as by press tting or pinning outwardly of the nut 8.

Each spindle l2 comprises at the outer end of itsshank I0, a conical picker or plant-entering portion generally indicated I6, andprovided with a plurality of lint-snagging barbs I8, I8 along its length.

Each of the spindles I2 is mounted at an angle and tilted upwardly with respect to the carrier bar on which it is mounted, and it will be seen from Figure 1 that the upper edge of each spindle portion I6 converges towards its tip with the bottom doing or sweeping face 20 of a related doifer element 22 disposed -thereabove in vertical registry therewith. Preferably, therupper edge vofleacli portion vIii is spaced adjacent to its 'tipabout 17in-4. of an inch below the related `face 2 0 and adjacent to the base of the cone about.%i of an inch.u

Referring now to Figure 2,v the drum 2 rotates v on a vertical axis (not shown) in a counter-clockwise direction as shown by the arrow. The doffer` elements 22 are keyed to a vertical shaft 24 vcon-v stituting support means for the doer elements. Each of elements 22 includes an annulus 26 providing a plurality of doffing surfaces which describe the annular bottom dohing face 20 during rotation of the shaft which proceeds counter. clockwise in the direction of the arrow. It will' be understood that the corresponding spindles on each of the bars are arranged in circumferential 

